Page:The Deipnosophists (Volume 3).djvu/149

 *

Then when these two are join'd in tender love They are the parents of all fruits to us, They bring them forth, they cherish them; and so The race of man both lives and flourishes.

And that most magnificent poet Æschylus, in his Danaides, introduces Venus herself speaking thus—

Then, too, the earth feels love, and longs for wedlock, And rain, descending from the amorous air, Impregnates his desiring mate; and she Brings forth delicious food for mortal man,— Herds of fat sheep, and corn, the gift of Ceres; The trees love moisture, too, and rain descends T' indulge their longings, I alone the cause.

74. And again, in the Hippolytus of Euripides, Venus says—

And all who dwell to th' eastward of the sea, And the Atlantic waves, all who behold The beams of the rising and the setting sun, Know that I favour those who honour me, And crush all those who boast themselves against me.

And, therefore, in the case of a young man who had every other imaginable virtue, this one fault alone, that he did not honour Venus, was the cause of his destruction. And neither Diana, who loved him exceedingly, nor any other of the gods or demi-gods could defend him; and accordingly, in the words of the same poet,—

Whoe'er denies that Love's the only god, Is foolish, ignorant of all that's true, And knows not him who is the greatest deity Acknowledged by all nations.

And the wise Anacreon, who is in everybody's mouth, is always celebrating love. And, accordingly, the admirable Critias also speaks of him in the following manner:—

Teos brought forth, a source of pride to Greece, The sweet Anacreon, who with sweet notes twined A wreath of tuneful song in woman's praise, The choicest ornament of revelling feasts, The most seductive charm; a match for flutes' Or pipes' shrill aid, or softly moving lyre: O Teian bard, your fame shall never die; Age shall not touch it; while the willing slave Mingles the wine and water in the bowl,